The next weeks, everything was going fine, more than ever actually. Castiel has been coming over more, and Sam had been going to the houses of his friends, and was really excited to be invited for a party of one of his friend's birthdays. Dean smiled at Sam's excitement, happy Sam could live the life he deserved right now. Even John was doing fine, for his being. Sure, he kept coming home late and drunk but he didn't make such a mess as he used to.
Dean kept a rhythm in his life of going to school every day and working in the weekends. On Saturday, Castiel comes by and goes home before John comes back. Sometimes, they hang out on school days, Castiel helping Sam with his homework or talking about books they read while Dean makes dinner.
Sam is as happy as ever when Castiel comes by, greeting Dean and walking straight towards Sam. He knows how much the boy loves reading, but he also knows Dean can't afford to buy many books. Since Dean doesn't skip school and only works in the weekends, and sometimes after school, they needed all the money he gets.
Sam looked up; saying hey to Castiel, wondering what Castiel is caring with him. Castiel dropped the plastic bag in Sam's lap. "That's for you," he said, smiling.
"Oh my..." Sam fell silent as he opened the bag, not knowing what to say. "Dean!" he yelled. "Dean, look what I got!"
Dean, having his instincts, runs out of the kitchen as soon as he hears Sam yelling. He finds an overly happy Sam and a smiling Castiel.
"Dean, I have the full Harry Potter series, look!" Castiel explained to Sam how he saw him reading it, and since he has read the whole series twice already, he decided to give them to Sam.
Dean's heart melted immediately. "Thanks so much," Sam said to Castiel before opening the second book of the series. Dean lets him read, he'll do Sam's homework later.
"Thanks," he said to Castiel when they return to the kitchen.
"No problem, I found out he has only read the first book and I hate it when I can only read one book of a series so I thought I'd give him all the books." Dean can't help but keep smiling as he makes dinner. Once again, he is happy he befriended Castiel.
During dinner they chat, Sam happier than usual, this also makes Dean a lot happier. Castiel notices how Dean's mood is based on Sam's. When Sam doesn't feel good, Dean doesn't pay attention in class, leaving right after school to pick up Sam, taking care of him. When Sam is angry, Dean looks sad the whole day. When Sam is happy, Dean can enjoy things without having to worry about Sam.
Suddenly Sam dropped the bomb. "You know, mom would've really liked you, Castiel," he said.
A dead silence fell and Dean's smile is gone. Castiel didn't know what to say, he assumed their mom was either gone, or dead. They never talk about her. Not that they talk about their dad much, but he hasn't even heard the word 'mom' in any of their conversations. "I'm sorry," Sam almost whispers. Its silent for another minute, and suddenly Dean started talking.
"Our mom, she is..." He couldn't finish it, but Castiel knew what he meant. "a house fire, I was 9, Sammy 5 years old." Dean explains. He doesn't know what else to say, but Castiel gives him a small smile, letting him know he doesn't have to say anything. He nods, and they finish dinner.
After reading a few chapters in his books, Sam goes to bed and before Dean closes the door, he tells Sam one more thing: "You're right, Sammy, she would."
Returning back to the kitchen, Dean gets Sam's bag and takes the homework out. As he and Castiel talked some more, he did Sam's homework. When Castiel had to go home, Dean thanked him once again for the books. "I think you made his whole week."
Castiel smiled. "And by making Sam's week, I also made yours," he says. Dean nodded, he knew Castiel had figured out his mood depended on Sam's.
"See you Monday," he says, and Castiel tells him bye and starts walking.
Dean sighed, Sam had more homework to do than he expected. He is still working when John comes home. He's pretty drunk and takes the papers out of Dean's hand.
"What's this? Homework? Since when do you do anything for school?" Dean tried to grab the papers.
"Dad, can I get it back, I need to finish this," he said, but John didn't listen. He turned around so Dean can't get it, and with that action he spills the beer he has in his hand on the papers. "Ah shit, can't read it anyways, too tired," and with that, John walks off to his room.
Dean looks at the papers, dripping beer off it. He will get some new and do it again, anything to prevent anyone from finding out about Johns drinking behavior. He wipes the beer off the floor and starts working on Sam's homework again. It's 3am when he finally goes to sleep, tired, but finished.
The week goes by quickly, Dean getting constant remarks on not doing his homework but he doesn't care.
On Wednesday, he sat in History class when he got a text. He pulled out his phone and read the text, not caring about Miss Talbot, telling him he would have to hand in his phone.
"You don't have books, you don't do your assignments, you don't even have a damn bag! Now hand in your phone or you'll get detention!" she said, but he ignored her completely.
Sam: my friend is sick at home; can you come pick me up?
Sam would stay at a friend's house on Wednesdays, so Dean could just go to his History instead of skipping it each time to pick up Sam. He stood up, and walked to the front, right past Miss Talbot, leaving her shocked with her hand out. She recovered quickly.
"What do you think you're gonna do, young boy?" she asked, already pissed off by the fact that he just ignored her and thought he would get away with it.
"Gotta pick up my little brother, goodbye Miss, see you next class!" Dean replied, and left the classroom. As he walked away, he heard his classmates laugh, and Miss Talbot trying to shut everyone up. He grinned, he liked messing with teachers. They would leave anyways so why would he even try to be nice when this was way more fun?
That Saturday, Castiel came by, as usual. They just had finished dinner, and Dean was doing the dishes when the front door opened. He turned around immediately, checking who came inside, a knife behind his back. Whoever came to hurt Sammy had to deal with him first. But it was someone he hadn't expected to be home at this time
"Who the hell is that?" John asked as soon as he saw Castiel, who quickly stood up. He hadn't met John Winchester before, but Dean had told some things about him and by Dean and Sam's reaction, this was John.
"I'm Castiel Novak, sir," he stumbled before Dean took it over.
"He is here for a school project, dad," he said, hoping his dad wouldn't be mad.
"And why is he here?" John grumbled.
"Well, our teacher said we had to do it at home, and I can't leave Sammy behind."
John looked at Castiel, and Castiel didn't know what to do. The way John looked at him... it was as if his eyes said 'you don't belong here, so get the fuck away and never let me see you again'.
After what felt like minutes, John looked away and stumbled to his room.
"I guess I'll just..." Castiel gestured towards the door. Dean nodded and walked with him.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I never meant to let dad scare you, he's never home early on Saturdays." But Castiel sushed him and told him it was okay.
As Castiel walked home, he thought about how Sam and Dean reacted when their dad was home. Sam hadn't said anything; he kept working on his homework, not even looking at his dad. Dean hadn't let go of the knife when he saw it was his dad coming inside, probably having the thought of protecting Sam in his head.
But the way he talked to his dad was something Castiel has never heard of him before. It was as if he was willing to do anything John would ask, or most likely, commend.
Not to mention the fact that John was drunk. Drunk as in really, really drunk. He didn't know if he wanted to know what happened when John was drunk. He had seen drunken people, and some could get really... violent.
Castiel sighed and didn't know what to do. He decided to wait until Dean started talking about it, and if he didn't, he wouldn't know. He knew this was not his business.
When he arrived home, he greeted his mom. "You look dreamy, you have your eye on someone?" she asked. "You really look happier since a few weeks ago."
She knew Castiel did not have many friends, and had been a bit upset when Castiel told her Charlie was gay. As a mother, she wished the best for her son, so when he told her no, she smiled sadly. "There will be someone for you, dear. Good night."
Castiel thought about what she had said. There will be someone for you.But not Dean, right? He didn't swing that way. Yes, Dean was really good looking. And he was his best friend besides Charlie. And when Charlie had dropped some hints (which he had cursed her for later), he had seen Dean blush a little. He liked the blush, it looked cute. Also, Dean seemed to be really comfortable around him, he didn't laugh at him for his obsession with books, and even Sam had told Castiel once he was a really good friend to Dean.
The more he thought about it, the less sure he was. Did he like Dean in that way?